Rubio looks like the real deal!

[Banner_18]

Of course Rubio is the real deal, but you shouldn't just realize that now. Did no one watch his play before? Did anyone watch him in the Olympics against a team of Lebron, Kobe, Wade, Howard, etc??

His capabilities were well know for some time now, and of course the guy's gonna be very good in the NBA. He has played against NBA players/competition before. The plus side is that the guy is still so young, and can get much better.

[CelticHooligan3]

He's got to work on that defense. D. Rose was blowing by him at will. He looked very flat-footed at times. Don't get me wrong he showed some flashes of brilliance but his decision making especially down the stretch was head scratching to say the least. To me he looks like he could have some serious growing pains over here in the NBA. Not to say he won't make it thru. But he could struggle mightily here.

[guava_wrench]

Yep - he "Looks" like the real deal....he needs to go on and come over to Minny and prove it, though.

I like him, but it is interesting to me to see how he'd fare in an 82 game season against the best players in the world.

If he can come here and compete, then he'd prove to me that he is the real deal.

We will have to see, but NBA guys like Rose and Durant praised his play and especially his defensive tenacity and effort.  They said they think he is definitely ready to come over, and he still will be overseas for at least another year he says.

Hopefully Minny has some of that mess of a roster figured out by then.  They will still have Kahn though, so who knows what could happen in a years time.

He picked Rose's dribble a few times.

[Snakehead]

He's got to work on that defense. D. Rose was blowing by him at will. He looked very flat-footed at times. Don't get me wrong he showed some flashes of brilliance but his decision making especially down the stretch was head scratching to say the least. To me he looks like he could have some serious growing pains over here in the NBA. Not to say he won't make it thru. But he could struggle mightily here.

I did not watch the game myself, but Coach K, Rose, and KD all praised his defense first and foremost, on his ability but also the effort to defense. 

I think Derrick Rose blows by a lot of people.  Rondo is defensively the leagues best PG and he has gotten torched by Rose a number of times.  This is because with the NBA rules you can't stop the quick PGs of the league. International play has hand checking so it should be possible to slow Rose down a little more, but he still will blow by defenders. 

Of course you want to stay in front of your man, but it is a misconception that there are PGs that don't get blown past these days.  They all do by the quick guards, guys like Rose and Rondo.  It is about getting blown past less and steals as far as defense at the PG position.

And show me a teenage PG that doesn't have some poor decision making.  He certainly can work on it but there is plenty of room and time for that ahead.

Not saying he doesn't need work, but he's still very young.  It's promising for his future to hear so much praise placed on his defense.  That is a good foundation for a young PG.

[GreenFaith1819]

Yep - he "Looks" like the real deal....he needs to go on and come over to Minny and prove it, though.

I like him, but it is interesting to me to see how he'd fare in an 82 game season against the best players in the world.

If he can come here and compete, then he'd prove to me that he is the real deal.

We will have to see, but NBA guys like Rose and Durant praised his play and especially his defensive tenacity and effort.  They said they think he is definitely ready to come over, and he still will be overseas for at least another year he says.

Hopefully Minny has some of that mess of a roster figured out by then.  They will still have Kahn though, so who knows what could happen in a years time.

He picked Rose's dribble a few times.

True - he did.

But if he could make Minny a better team - even slightly, then I'll anoint him as the real deal.

He'll have Jonny Flynn, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, Corey Brewer to do it with.

Make those players better, Rubio, and then you'll be the real deal to me.

[Witch-King]

Ricky Rubio has got some skills for sure, definitely.

I wouldn't say he's at a 'Rajon Rondo' level, however I could easily see him starting on a few teams in the NBA if he ever were to decide to come and play in the states.

Shame Rondo was inactive during their scrimmage vs Spain, however Team USA didn't even need him to edge out a victory so I'm not too upset...just a little peeved that we almost allowed Spain to rob us down the stretch.

Either way, 'Rubio' is still a legit talent -- he can create his own shot, he's quick and has good footwork and from what I have seen is an above-average passer...lol

[gar]

So am trying to remember if I have ever seen him simply blow by someone. the guy does not seem to have as many gears as most NBA PG's. He is able to through people off with his timing; but he seems to have only two speeds (slow and medium) no overdrive. I think that is his biggest challenge. Was impressed with his rebounding, seems to have a good nose for the ball; but speed of the NBA game will be a problem.

[Celtics18]

So am trying to remember if I have ever seen him simply blow by someone. the guy does not seem to have as many gears as most NBA PG's. He is able to through people off with his timing; but he seems to have only two speeds (slow and medium) no overdrive. I think that is his biggest challenge. Was impressed with his rebounding, seems to have a good nose for the ball; but speed of the NBA game will be a problem.

I think you have significantly underestimated his quickness.

[gar]

Depends what you mean. He has not shown great explosiveness (in my limited view), he is quick in the same manner as maybe Steve Nash; but no one ever called Steve Nash explosive.

(by the way I am not interested in getting in a long drawn out argument about this, I appreciate your point. Just want to make sure we are talking about the same thing.)

[thirstyboots18]

I am not sure if this is the right word, but to me it seems that he plays with arrogance.  By that I mean he seems to think he is the best ball handler out there and no one can take advantage of him.  Therefore, he is not always careful enough with the ball.  This caused a couple turnovers, a too cute pass,  and at least one steal yesterday...he was just not expecting it. Small thing and as he plays more against against good defensive teams, he will correct it.

[aporel#18]

Rubio will be very good, he might be great. He's still growing, he will add more muscle, and he's improving his shooting. Still very young. He will go to the NBA next year.

Ricky was a huge scorer when he needed to, competing against boys of his age, but he was very young (he hadn't turned 15 y.o. when he played his first ACB game) when he started playing at the pro level in Europe, so he was playing against bigger, stronger, more experienced players, and his coaches taught him to take advantage of his defense and BBIQ. When he developes his body, he'll be a totally different player, not Maravich, not Nash, but a very good player in the NBA.

He was 17 at the Olympic Games, he'll be just 21 when the 2011-2012 season starts (lockout or not), six months older than Rondo when he entered the league. You should compare Rubio to John Wall, or Evan Turner, not Rose or Rondo. Anyway, I'd rather have Rubio than Rose
right now... Rondo is (in my opinion) better than Rose and Rubio.

His season in the ACB has been solid, he rarely makes stupid plays like he did yesterday. At his age, he's very serious if you compare him to Sergio Rodriguez or Raul Lopez, the flashiest PGs in Spanish basketball.

I think he wasn't meant to play so mamy minutes yesterday, but Calderon got injured (again... he's very unlucky) and he will miss the World Champs. So Ricky will be the starter, and hopefully we will see Ricky vs Rajon in the semifinals.

Ricky Rubio and Rudy Fernandez played in DKV Joventut, the black and green team in the ACB, so they'd look great in Celtics green    It would be very nice

[thirstyboots18]

Aporel#18, I did not mean to sound like I think Rubio does not belong in the NBA or that he is not very good.  I realize he is still very young.  He has unlimited potential, and will learn.  I meant that he looked like he was not ready to face a good defensive team yet.  Except for a few mistakes, and a little too much dribbling or overfancy passes, he looked terrific.  (Rondo gets a little too fancy now and then, but his team is more ready for his unusual passes now.)

I get the impression that Spain is the cream and hasn't faced much defensive opposition.   (Since I am in the chat room during the games I often get the wrong impression...I love being able to blame the chat for all my mistaken impressions,  ).   

[LeoMoreno]

Aporel#18, I did not mean to sound like I think Rubio does not belong in the NBA or that he is not very good.  I realize he is still very young.  He has unlimited potential, and will learn.  I meant that he looked like he was not ready to face a good defensive team yet.  Except for a few mistakes, and a little too much dribbling or overfancy passes, he looked terrific.  (Rondo gets a little too fancy now and then, but his team is more ready for his unusual passes now.)

I get the impression that Spain is the cream and hasn't faced much defensive opposition.   (Since I am in the chat room during the games I often get the wrong impression...I love being able to blame the chat for all my mistaken impressions,  ).   

Rondo's unusual passes? You mean the ones when he rampages into the pant and then hammers a ball into Perkins' head who luckily  had his arms up and caught the ball for reasons unknown to scientists? Everything else is like more-less normal.

[aporel#18]

Aporel#18, I did not mean to sound like I think Rubio does not belong in the NBA or that he is not very good.  I realize he is still very young.  He has unlimited potential, and will learn.  I meant that he looked like he was not ready to face a good defensive team yet.  Except for a few mistakes, and a little too much dribbling or overfancy passes, he looked terrific.  (Rondo gets a little too fancy now and then, but his team is more ready for his unusual passes now.)

I get the impression that Spain is the cream and hasn't faced much defensive opposition.   (Since I am in the chat room during the games I often get the wrong impression...I love being able to blame the chat for all my mistaken impressions,  ).   

I don't think you got a mistaken impression. I think you are right, he will have to learn if he wants to succeed in the NBA, and these two extra years in the ACB will be good for him. Entering the NBA at 18 years old with all that hype after the Olympics would have been a bad start for him. And about defense... the critical difference between NBA and European basketball is the athletic skills, and with those goes defense.

Rubio has met good defenses, but he hasn't played on a regular basis against such athletic players. European players can shoot as well (even better  ) as the American, can be skilled, but the pace of the game, the need to be focused on every play, and the physicality of the NBA players is totally different. It's very difficult to make a good shoot selection against a team that plays a terrific defense, like the Celtics, or in this case, team USA.

Drazen Petrovic was a genius, he excelled at everything on the court, but he needed to bulk up and translate his game to the NBA. He could have been an All Star, but he passed away when he started to get it. Most of the ACB and Euroleague players can't adapt themselves to the NBA game, despite being talented: Raul Lopez, Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodríguez... I think Ricky is physically more gifted, and he will be able to play in the NBA style, like Gasol, Ginobili, Parker, Nowitzki, AK47...

I love the Celtics, and I like them more because of their team game, sharing the ball, doing it together... I never liked MJ's Bulls, and I dislike that hype Super-player view of the Stern-ESPN-Nike and others. European basketball is more about moving the ball, looking for the extra-pass... more like the Celtics style, but without the lockdown defense.

[dpaps]

To be honest, I didn't take the time to read this thread.

That being said, Rubio looks like an NBA star to me. I watched the whole USA-Spain gold medal game where he looked like one of the 4 or 5 best players on the court, and I just finished watching the USA-Spain FIBA game and wow, he continues to impress me. He had the best court awareness of anyone in the game, he managed his team, played with style but also intelligence. I really think he may be comparable to Drose right now as a point guard in the NBA. I think all the hype will be justified once he arrives in America. Although it may never be for Minnesota if he gets his wish.